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With the Modi 3.0 government in the saddle, Rolls-Royce, the British Aerospace and Defence Company, has renewed efforts to expand business in key areas, including naval gas turbines, electric propulsion systems, and aerospace engines. In an interview with businessline Alex Zino, Director of Business Development and Future Programmes, Rolls Royce, shares insight into the company’s pitch with the government on electric propulsion systems, gas turbines, and aerospace engines, besides expanding manufacturing capabilities in India. Excerpts:
Can you tell us about the Rolls-Royce supply chain ecosystem in India?
India represents a substantial opportunity for growth and expansion of our global supply chain for both civil aerospace and defence. For our engineering capability, 3,000 people, directly or through strategic partners, work across our ecosystem to support products in India and our global-wide capability. Currently, a number of Indian partners, such as HAL, Bharat Forge, Godrej & Boyce, Tata, and others, have been providing critical components for our civil and defence aero-engines. Over 300 components for the Trent XWB engines that power Air India’s A350s and will soon power Indigo’s widebody fleet are made in India by Tata and other partners.
What’s the volume of MSME and start-up engagements in India?
We have just one, but it has come out of the MSME category. We are looking at more suppliers in those areas. Over the years, if you see companies we have worked with, they have grown out of that space. We do work with AAran 1 Engineering Pvt. Ltd on the defence side. In the last two days, we had conversations on how to bring vendor base ecosystem of Rolls Royce to interact with the engine ecosystem here. We are looking to expand our manufacturing capability in India.
Tell us specific segments you are looking at for expanding footprints here.
I cannot be talking about commodity strategies, but at the sectoral level, clearly, naval is one of the key areas. Naval gas turbines, some of our MTU (power solution) products, and our electric propulsions. Those three areas are key. We are looking at potential partnerships for our 4-megawatt AG gas turbine. We have offered the MT30 gas turbine as part of the UK-India Electric Propulsion Capability Partnership Working Group to support future ships of the Indian Navy. There are new programmes on the horizon with the Navy, and that’s part of a discussion for a warship architecture. There were trade-offs during those discussions at the Working Group. We are also supporting the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard through the indigenisation process. We have a joint venture with Force Motors, called Force MTU Power Systems, to produce MTU Series 1600 engines and complete generator sets at the Chakan facility near Pune. To date, over 350 engines have been exported to Germany and the United States.
Any of Rolls Royce offers to the government maturing?
In the land domain, we have provided an 8V199 engine for a light tank to the OEM L&T, which is working with the DRDO to roll out the product. The prototype is ready. Our engine was delayed because of the clearances, (the BAFA clearance) and I think now it’s with the platform manufacturer and it’s up to them to decide what the next steps are.
In aerospace..
We are supporting the existing fleet. We are waiting for the Indian Air Force decision on the Jaguar fighters and how long they want to fly that jet. We stand to support whatever decision they take on the issue. We are working very closely with the Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE), a lab of the DRDO, on fifth-generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA). We offered unique solutions or proposals for transferring technology capability into a new engine course. We will develop in India. Forging and casting are another area of interest. PTC Industries is into it. We know there is a shortage of titanium around the world, and there are constraints in castings and forgings.
Is there any clarity on which engine is going for AMCA and which ones for other aerial platforms?
We have made an offer and will continue to have conversations with the DRDO about what their ask might be. What’s the internal system is talking about? We are not privy to that.
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